Salute to a giant among men

The policy thrust of General Babangida focused on protection of lives and properties of Nigerians,

As General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR, celebrates his 80th birthday, his achievements as Military President for a period of eight years remain indelible. It’s been 28 years since he stepped aside from the saddle of leadership, yet his relevance continues to improve like wine – exuding excellence that fits into the contemporary times after so many years.

It is indeed common practice to throw around tributes for the dead, but mostly uncommon to do the same for people who are still living. Babangida would be remembered for many things but I have inclined myself towards his laudable efforts and outstanding legacies especially in the education sector and a few others due to limited space. Those in the tertiary education system in Nigeria will forever remember the lifeline generated by IBB’s policies that subsist till date.

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It is indeed gladdening that successive administrations have continued to leverage and sustain the good job done by the Babangida-led government, and the latest is the increased budgetary allocation to the sector. It is instructive to emphasize that quality education is the foundation of any progressive society which fits neatly into a popular quote by Malcom X, which says “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”.

At the most concrete level, IBB, as he is popularly called, has made an ineradicable impact on education in Nigeria. It is on record that the former military president prepared for the future of the education system in Nigeria when in 1993, he established the Education Trust Fund which later became TETFund. The special fund has in no small way helped in navigating the tertiary education system away from collapse.

Virtually, all new structures in tertiary institutions are TETFund sponsored and now on the verge of additional element in Research and Development that is key for the needed national development agenda. Just recently, its board chairman, Kashim Imam, set a new target of N500 billion considering the magnitude of the challenges facing tertiary education. It is therefore imperative to increase the percentage of the tax to at least 20% and handover tertiary institutions to TETFund for proper attention.

As one of the luckiest Nigerian of the younger generation familiar with the university system and public sector development drives, my interest to harp on the strides of IBB in placing our educational system on the path to achieving the best in character and learning. The bigger picture, however, is the importance of having great structures to produce future leaders with skill sets, professional underpinnings and political will to galvanize the system, structure and focus of Nigeria to regain its pride of place. IBB seemed to have been buoyed by the words of a former US President, Benjamin Franklin that, “an investment in education pays the best interest”.

The General Babangida-led government provided uncommon support to the education sector, with vibrant policies that gave both the public and private sectors the opportunity to fully participate in the running of education. Today, private schools contribute significantly to education development at all levels in Nigeria.

IBB also established the National Primary Education Commission (Decree 31), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (Decree 53), National Primary Education Commission, National Commission for Nomadic Education (1989), National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (Decree 17,1990), Federal School of Surveying (Decree 19, 1990), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (Decree 33) among others, all of which helped in the revitalization of the education sector.

Therefore, this tribute is an account of his contributions towards crafting a modern-day Nigeria. Therefore, his achievements, especially in the educational sector, are just a fraction of what he did for the nation. In no particular order, let me therefore highlight on other multisectoral strides achieved by the Babangida-led administration.

Security sector

The policy thrust of General Babangida focused on protection of lives and properties of Nigerians, by putting security architecture on the global roadmap for contemporary training, weaponry and tactics. IBB reorganized security in the country by establishing a security apparatus that can be compared with any country’s in the civilized world. He established the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), fashioned after the American CIA; the Department of State Security (DSS) which is as good as the FBI; and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

These are the fallouts of the emerging security architecture that General Babangida singlehandedly established and they are still vibrant and can be compared to any establishment of that nature around the world if they are allowed to function without interference.

IBB also introduced the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in 1988 to lessen the overburdened or overstretched police which had too many tasks that probably distracted them from the core duty of fighting crime. The Federal Road Safety Corps was introduced to take from the police the responsibility of road safety. The concept of Federal Road Safety Corps, established by General Babangida is unarguably today, one of the greatest features that have come to play in terms of road transportation and safety of the nation’s road network.

Babangida set up the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to fight trade in illicit drugs. He also established the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs and cosmetics among others.

Media sector development

General Babangida also left an indelible mark in the media sector by breaking the monopoly of ownership especially in the broadcast industry when he deregulated the sector in 1992, and established the National Broadcasting Commission as the regulator. That decision has engendered private sector participation in the broadcast industry.

The greatest asset provided by deregulation of broadcasting is that there are many voices on air, with a variety of choices in political, economic and social life for Nigerians. He also promulgated the Nigeria Press Council, Decree 85, which today serves as regulatory body for the print aspect of the media in Nigeria.

Addressed Regional Agitation

IBB brought governance closer to the grassroots and reduced tension and agitation among various regional and ethnic groups. Out of the 36 states, General Babangida created 11 and 136 local governments out of the 774. On September 9, 1987, General IBB created Akwa-Ibom and Katsina states. On August 27, 1991, he also created Abia, Anambra, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Osun, Yobe and Taraba states. He also created 47 new local governments the same day. On September 23 1991, he created additional 89 local governments.

He established the Oil Mineral-Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) and increased oil royalties to states from 1.5 to 3 percent, to address agitation from Niger Delta region, a development that was built upon to create the 13 percent Oil Mineral Derivation Fund.

Liberalization of the economy

On the economy, General Babangida was aligned towards the Ibadan School of Economics, where his Chief Economic Adviser was the late icon of Development Economics, Professor Tunji Aboyade. Aboyade’s disciples are still flourishing in the Ibadan School of Economics. He set up several national agencies to address the various socio-economic issues Nigeria was confronted with.

In July 1986, he brought the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which led to the take-off of the second-tier foreign exchange market on September 29, 1986. SAP was introduced to foster self-reliant, long-term national economic growth.

He set up the People’s Bank of Nigeria to help traders and artisans, who might not have found it difficult to secure loans from commercial banks. This laid the foundation for microfinance banking that Nigerians enjoy until today.

To further expand and advance frontiers in the national economy, IBB established the Securities and Exchange Commission (Decree 29), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) (Decree 2), National Economic Emergency Powers (1985), Second-Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM) (1986), Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), (1990), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (Decree 22, 1990), Central Bank of Nigeria (Decree 24, 1991), Banks and Other Financial Institutions, Nigeria Export Processing Zone (Decree 34, 1991), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) (Decree 38, 1991), Nigeria LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) (under Decree 39, 1990) and Community Bank (under Decree 46, 1992).

Other are Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) (under Decree 39, 1987), Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Decree 49, 1989), National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (Decree 49,1992), Urban Development Bank (Decree 51, 1992), and Chartered Institute of Taxation under Decree 76, 1992 and National Planning Commission under (Decree 12) of 1992

As he marks this milestone in his very eventful life, there is no doubt that IBB stands out as one of the few men this nation has produced who are giants, men who stand tall and magnificent, above the common fun of elite existence in Nigeria. May the inspiration and detribalized legacies that IBB epitomize continue to echo and impact this generation and generations yet unborn.

 

Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, a Professor of Agricultural Extension and Development Communication at University of Ibadan, is a former Secretary to Niger State Government